Summary: Mrs X complains that although she should receive assisted collections the Council repeatedly fails to return her bins to the front of her property after they are emptied. The Council’s repeated failure to return Mrs X’s bins to her property as part of the assisted collection service amounts to fault. This fault has caused Mrs X an injustice.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mrs X complains that although she should receive assisted collections the Council repeatedly fails to return her bins to the front of her property after they are emptied. Mrs X is unable to move the bins herself and has to ask her neighbours to help her.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. As part of the investigation, I have considered the complaint provided by Mrs X and made enquiries of the Council and considered the comments and documents the Council provided. I have also sent a statement setting out my draft decision to Mrs X and the Council and invited their comments.

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What I found

Refuse and recycling collections

5. Councils have a duty under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to collect household waste and recycling from properties in its area. The collections do not have to be weekly and councils can decide the type of bins or boxes people must use.
6. The Council's practice is to make a weekly household waste collection and a fortnightly recycling collection.
7. The Council provides an assisted collection service for people who are unable to move their bins and boxes due to a disability or age. The Council should collect the bins from the storage point and return them to the same point.
8. When a missed collection is reported to the Council, the Depot will ask the crew to return to complete the round as soon as possible. When the collection is complete, the Council closes the report.

What happened here

9. Mrs X receives assisted collections and complains the collection crews do not collect her bins from the front of her property or return them when they are empty. Mrs X is unable to move the bins herself and has to rely on friends and neighbours to assist her. Mrs X states this has been a problem for years and currently happens most frequently with the recycling bin.
10. The Council states Mrs X only reported one missed recycling collection in 2019. It does not consider there have been repeated problems with Mrs X’s collections.
11. Mrs X made a formal complaint in July 2019 about the assisted collection service. She stated that over the last three years the crews had been collecting her bins but not returning them. She asked for the crews to collect and return her bins properly.
12. The Council’s response apologised for the poor service and the delay in responding to her complaint. It states the service manager had spoken to the crews and reminded them of Mrs X’s assisted collection and to return her bins to the collection point.
13. As this did not resolve the problem and the crews still did not return Mrs X’s bins, she asked the Council to consider her complaint further. The Council acknowledged Mrs X’s frustration that the problem had not been resolved. It confirmed the service manager had again reminded the crews of their obligations regarding assisted collections. The Council stated it would carry out spot checks over the next few weeks to ensure crews were following these instructions.
14. Mrs X has asked the Ombudsman to investigate her complaint as her recycling bin is still not routinely returned to her property when it is emptied.
15. In response to my enquiries the Council states it runs an assisted collection report at the start of each month with an updated list of all assisted collections. It then manually adds properties to each depot’s hard drive so they can print off and add this to crew information packs. Assisted collection properties also appear on the crew’s mobile technology. It has confirmed that Mrs X has assisted collection status.
16. The Council states it monitored Mrs X’s collections in late October / early November 2019. It has not provided details of this monitoring, but states the evidence was inconclusive. Mrs X states the Council did not make assisted collections on 4 and 18 October or 1 and 15 November 2019. The Council has therefore arranged further monitoring for the next three months, which should identify any root causes and provide a resolution.

Analysis

17. The Council’s records show Mrs X only reported one missed collection in 2019, and there are no records that she has repeatedly reported a problem with the assisted collections. But I do not consider this means the service was working as it should. The Council’s responses to Mrs X’s complaints do not dispute that the crews were not returning Mrs X’s bins, instead they apologised for the poor service and assured her it would improve. Despite assurances it had reminded the crew members and set up spot checks, the service has not improved, and Mrs X’s bins are still not routinely returned.
18. Based on the documentation I have received I consider there have been repeated failings in the Council’s assisted collection service which amount to fault.
19. The Council has confirmed Mrs X is registered for assisted collections and this should be recorded on mobile technology within the collection vehicles and in the crew packs. It is therefore unclear why Mrs X’s bins are routinely left on the street rather than returned to her property when they are emptied.
20. I recognise the Council has now arranged a longer period of monitoring and would expect this to lead to an improvement in service. But I consider the Council could have taken action to resolve this matter sooner.
21. Having identified fault, I must now consider whether this has caused Mrs X an injustice. Mrs X has had to find ways to manage the uncollected recycling left at her property and has had to rely on other people to present and return her bin after collection. She has also been put to unnecessary time and trouble in trying to resolve this matter.

Agreed action

22. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mrs X and pay her £100 in recognition of the frustration and difficulties the repeated failure to return her bins to her property as part of the assisted collection service has caused.
23. The Council should carry out this action within one month of the final decision on this complaint.

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Final decision

24. The Council’s repeated failure to return Mrs X’s bins to her property as part of the assisted collection service amounts to fault. This fault has caused Mrs X an injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman